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SACRIFICE

Prayer is a form of communication with a deity or other spiritual being.
Words addressed to a deity usually offer praise or seek guidance,
blessing, forgiveness, fertility, victory, or protection. Like prayer,
sacrifice is a form of communication with a deity for similar purposes.
The word itself means "to make holy." As distinct from
prayer, sacrificial offerings include objects of value and symbolic
significance that are given to the gods to earn their favor. The gifts can
take many forms, becoming sacred themselves through ritual consecration.
The gods might be offered the most desirable foods or provided with the
finest vessels, carvings, tools, and weapons. Historians, however, have
often regarded blood sacrifice as the most powerful way to appease the
gods. It was not unusual for societies to engage in both animal and human
sacrifice, although the historical trend has been toward a sharp reduction
in the latter.

Participants in blood sacrifice rituals experience a sense of awe, danger,
or exaltation because they are daring to approach the gods who create,
sustain, and destroy life. The buildup of tension prior to the blood
sacrifice gives way to a festive sense of triumph and relief. Morale is
strengthened by the ritual killing because the group has itself performed
the godlike act of destruction and is now capable of renewing its own
existence. The underlying philosophical assumption is that life must pass
through death.

According to ancient rites of sacrifice, the sacrificial animal or human
should be of high value. The gods would be offended by a sickly or
inferior offering. In Old Testament tradition, Abel was obeying what was
already an ancient tradition when he sacrificed the firstborn of his herds
to God. Bulls were sacred to Egyptians more than 5,000 years ago, being
associated with Taurus, a god with both animal and human features. For the
Egyptians, then, the sacrifice of a bull was the gift of a demigod to the
gods. In the years immediately preceding the emergence of Christianity
some mystery cults switched from bull to human sacrifices, using the same
ceremonies in which the victim was first honored as a god, then put to
bloody death. Osiris, the legendary Egyptian ruler who, murdered, became
the god of fertility, cast a long shadow over these proceedings. Biblical
scholars have often commented that the death of Jesus had been prefigured
by other events in which a person was raised to the status of a god and
then sacrificed for the good of the people. The significance of blood as a
link between Jesus and his followers is consistent with that tradition.

Sacrifice and Society

Human sacrifice is sometimes regarded as a bizarre practice carried out by
a few scattered societies who either were uncivilized or exceptionally
cruel and violent. However, there is persuasive evidence that the
sacrificial impulse has been common throughout history and has played an
important role in society.

The origins of blood sacrifice are lost in the mist of prehistory.
Nevertheless, inferences can be drawn from archaeological research and
from
the practices and beliefs of people whose rituals continued into the
historical period. The same societies usually performed other types of
sacrifices as well, but these examples demonstrate the widespread use of
ritual murder as an approved component of social policy.

Foundation and passage sacrifices.
There is abundant archaeological evidence that many societies practiced
both animal and human sacrifice to persuade the gods to protect their
buildings and ensure safe passage through dangerous areas where their own
gods might lack jurisdiction. Burials suggestive of sacrifice have been
found in the sites of ancient bridges and buildings throughout Asia,
Europe, and North Africa. It was widely believed that territories were
under the control of local gods who might be angered by intrusions. Blood
sacrifice at border crossings (often marked by rivers) and within
buildings were thought to be prudent offerings. Sacrificial victims were
also interred beneath city gates.

Children were often selected as the sacrificial offerings. Excavation of
the Bridge Gate in Bremen, Germany, and several ancient fortresses in
Wales are among the many examples of this practice. According to the Book
of Kings, when Joshua destroyed Jericho he prophesized that the man who
rebuilds Jericho "shall lay the foundation stones thereof upon the
body of his first born and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates
thereof." In rebuilding the city, Hiel later sacrificed his oldest
and youngest sons in precisely this manner. The historian Nigel Davies
observes that biblical accounts of foundation sacrifices have been
supported by archaeological investigations:

In the sanctuary in Gezer were found two burnt skeletons of six-year-old
children and the skulls of two adolescents that had been sawn in two. At
Meggido a girl of fifteen had been killed and buried in the foundations
of a large structure. Excavations show that the practice of interring
children under new buildings was widespread and some were evidently
buried alive.
(Davies 1981, p. 61)

Foundation sacrifices dedicated to fertility (as, for example, in storage
buildings) often involved infant and child victims. Captives, slaves, and
criminals have also been selected as sacrificial victims on many
occasions. That foundation sacrifices belong only to the remote past could
be an erroneous assumption. In early twentieth-century Borneo an
eyewitness testified that a criminal was buried alive in every posthole
for a new building so that he might become a guardian spirit.

Attempts to Explain Blood Sacrifice

No one attempt to explain blood sacrifice seems adequate for the variety
of forms and purposes associated with this practice in many societies over
many years. Nevertheless, it is useful to consider the following accounts
as informed attempts to explain the relationship between blood sacrifice
and society.

Male bonding and collective killing.
Hunters learned to cooperate with each other to improve their chances of
success. This common purpose led to a sense of brotherhood, what is often
called "male bonding" in the twenty-first century. Their
mutual allegiances and rituals set them apart from others as they swore
their oaths on blood and became the specialists in killing. Some theorists
suggest that the basic forms of society were derived from the distribution
of roles within the hunting group and their codes of loyalty. The
structure of society in general has been modeled on male-bonded groups who
relied on blood sacrifices to achieve their own survival and
success—or so upholds this theory that seems to seriously
underestimate the contribution of women to the shaping of society.

Sacrifice reduces violence.
It may seem peculiar to suggest that sacrifice reduces violence, but some
anthropologists and historians have drawn this inference. Aggressive
tensions within a society can lead toward violence against fellow members.
Ritual sacrifices provide a relatively safe framework to keep violence
within bounds while at the same time offering emotional release through
killing substitute victims. This theory suggests that, at least in some
circumstances, ritual killing of a designated victim can restrain the
larger group from tearing itself apart.

Sacrificial companions to the next life.
Many societies have considered their leaders as representative of their
people both in this life and the next. It was important, then, to make
sure that the ruler of the land (be it a king or otherwise) was
accompanied to the afterlife with a retinue of loyal attendants. Rulers
often had their concubines and servants (as well as household animals)
entombed
with them. Even distinguished ministers might be among the companions who
were either entombed or immolated in order to serve their ruler after
death. Examples include major archaeological finds in Egypt and China
where the bodies of numerous attendants were discovered in chambers
adjoining the royal coffin. There is evidence that elaborate ceremonies
were conducted to honor the chosen companions prior to their deaths. It
appears that the sacrificial victims often were given libations that
provided a drug-induced insensitivity prior to their deaths.

The practice of burying the living with the dead encountered increasing
criticism through the centuries. Eventually many societies shifted to
symbolic sacrifices; for example, the later Egyptian practice of placing
figurines (
Shabti
) in the royal tombs. China, Japan, the Greek states, and other ancient
civilizations also moved toward symbolic rather than actual sacrifice of
companions upon the death of their rulers. Furthermore, with the
development of Christianity and Islam, a life after death appeared more
likely to be within reach of individuals other than royalty, therefore
making voluntary sacrifice a less attractive proposition.

Sacrifice keeps the world going.
The most sweeping theory is based on an interpretation of history that
pictures the human condition as fearful and perilous, beset with threats
to survival from starvation, attack, and events such as earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, and floods that were taken to be the work of angry
gods. Possessing limited knowledge and technology, societies tried to find
a way of negotiating with rival, demanding, and frequently unpredictable
gods if the world and their own lives were to continue. Sacrifice soon
became a significant form of exchange with the gods, a sort of currency in
an age before the establishment of a monetary system. In modern parlance,
sacrifice was a way of doing business.

Human sacrifice was considered so crucial a measure that it persisted for
some time even in societies that had become more complex and
sophisticated. For example, the practice of sacrificing the eldest son was
a salient feature of Mediterranean cults 5,000 years ago and still a
powerful theme in Judaism and early Christianity. Sacrifice would be tamed
slowly as societies developed more effective ways to manage their needs
and cope with their environments. The gradual and still

Among the ruins of Montsegur in southern France, a memorial stands
in the Field of the Burned to commomorate the sacrifice of over 200
Cathar heretics in 1244.

FORTEAN PICTURE LIBRARY

incomplete abolition of slavery throughout the world also reduced the
supply of potential victims. And, again, the slow and still incomplete
movement toward according full human rights to females eventually spared
many the death of a sacrificial victim.

Controversies and Unsettled Questions

Many questions and differences of opinion continue to exist around the
issue of human sacrifice. This situation is not surprising, considering
the limits and ambiguity of some of the evidence and the strong emotions
aroused by the subject.

Death does not always signify sacrifice.
Bodies dating from the first and second centuries B.C.E. have been
recovered from bogs in England, Denmark, Wales, and other Northern
European
sites. These have often been considered sacrificial victims because the
bodies showed many signs of having been subjected to ritualistic
treatment. More sophisticated examination of the remains, however,
indicates that at least some of the bodies had been accorded high honors,
not put to death by sacrifice or punishment. It is probable that other
errors have been made in identifying sacrifice victims, although enough
clear and substantial data are available to demonstrate that sacrifice has
been a common practice throughout much of the world.

Why child sacrifice?
One of the most dramatic episodes in Judeo-Christian Scripture begins
with God's command that Abraham sacrifice Isaac, his son. Abraham
sorrowfully prepares to obey, but God intervenes and provides a ram as a
sacrificial substitute. The meaning of this episode has been the subject
of intense discussion through the centuries, although it is most often
interpreted as a celebration of faith on Abraham's part and mercy
on the part of God. Another human sacrifice reported in the Bible has
remained more difficult to interpret in a favorable light and, therefore,
has received less attention. Jepthah pledged he would sacrifice the first
living creature that he saw when returning home if God would grant him
victory in an upcoming battle. The victorious Jepthah was greeted by his
daughter upon returning home. True to his pledge, Jepthah made a burnt
offering of his daughter (who is not given a name in the biblical
account). Why would God intervene for Isaac but not for Jepthah's
daughter? Was Jepthah pious or callous in carrying through with the
execution? These questions continue to haunt scholars and ethicists.

How many people were sacrificed by the Incas and Aztecs?
This question can now be answered with confidence. Yes, the Incas of Peru
and the Aztec of Mexico put a great many people to ritualistic death. This
proposition was doubted for some years, in part because this kind of mass
slaughter was difficult to imagine. Evidence has become increasingly
clear, however, that human sacrifice was a core feature of the Inca and
Aztec cultures.

Remains of Inca sacrifices have been dated from as long ago as 5000
B.C.E., sometimes on the towering peaks of the Andes, sometimes in the
coastal desert. Archaeological investigations have found evidence of human
sacrifice into the sixteenth century, and this practice is thought to have
continued for some time afterward. Tenochtitlan (predecessor to Mexico
City) is known to have been the active site of human sacrifices long
before Spanish forces arrived to witness these events firsthand: There
were already huge collections of skulls on display.

Twenty-first-century historians tend to agree that human sacrifice was
both a unifying event and an intense demonstration of religious beliefs
for these powerful empires. The Aztecs believed that the "vital
energies" of one person could be transferred to another person
through drinking the blood and eating the flesh. The gods also craved
flesh and blood, so human sacrifice benefited both Aztecs and their
ever-hungry deities. Sacrifice was an integral part of their worldview in
which the threat of death was ever present, a threat that had to be
countered by extreme and relentless measures that would magically
transform death into life. Discoveries since the mid-twentieth century
confirm that many women were sacrificed in special rituals intended to
renew the fertility cycle.

Peruvian sacrifices were also concerned with encouraging the gods to bless
their fertility. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the priests
appear to have sacrificed an extraordinary number of children. Also
somewhat obscure are the reasons for their practice of decapitating their
victims. Having left no written records, the Incas and other Peruvian
cultures have also taken with them their secrets and mysteries.

Do human sacrifices still exist?
A few scattered reports of ritualistic murders believed to be sacrificial
appear in print occasionally, usually in American and European newspapers.
The reports are brief and inconclusive; for example, one October 1999
Irish Times
article read, "Police in the eastern Indian state of Bihar
yesterday dug up the remains of two teenage girls allegedly killed by
their father in a ritual human sacrifice this week." It is probable
that at least some such killings are the work of deranged individuals
rather than religious celebrants. It is also possible, however, that
credible evidence of contemporary human sacrifice may come to light.

A controversial theory suggests that patriotism, war, and adherence to the
flag are incitements to a disguised form of sacrifice. Generally, the
homicide rate decreases when a nation is involved in a
popular war. Although there are other ways to interpret this fact, it is
a challenging thought that patriotism might be regarded as "a civil
religion of blood sacrifice, which periodically kills its children to keep
the group together" (Marvin and Ingle 1999, p. 315).

User Contributions:

I'm just trying to confirm that throughout human history sacrifice was always made on the behalf of a country or village. In other words always for a specific group of people. Can anyone please answer this question for me?

Nope, it was done by the officiating priest for themselves with the pretence of being for the whole village. Life for life. Only the wikker man with many sacrifices could go person for person.
No gods apart from evil intended ones would let one take the freedom of another's life. The only life you can give is your own. Any force sacrifice is of and for a demon!

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